This article explores the novel role of international aid for development of adaptation to climate change impacts and disaster risk reduction in the global South, and particularly, in climate vulnerable least developed and small islands states. Development aid is regarded as an instrument, both for enhancing their domestic resilience against disasters, safety of livelihoods and infrastructure, and for compliance with the norms and provisions of the climate change international regime with its Paris agreement. The research innovation is in tracking the new features and trends in multilateral assistance to development of adaptation systems in the recipients, and in analysis of changes in approaches and stronger positions of developing countries in climate diplomacy and multilateral North-South negotiations on adaptation development cooperation. Our focus is on identifying the climate specifics and core drivers in design of multilateral adaptation aid in comparison with the global development cooperation in general. The system of adaptive governance is approached from the polycentric perspective, which is characterized by a diversity of actors involved and broadening interactions between them. This study concludes that adaptation development aid could be more effective when climate finance is packaged together with transfer of technology and competences. Research is based on mixed methods and multidisciplinary approaches to aggregate findings from analysis of risks and climate impacts on society, results of international climate negotiations, UNFCCC documents, national reporting and case-studies on disaster risk reduction.